London Restaurant Reviews : Cheese Afternoon Tea, Georgian House London

I am not the biggest fan of Afternoon Tea. Don’t get me wrong: I love the sophisticated tiered setup of finely cut sandwiches, warm scones and delectable desserts washed down with copious amounts of fragrant leafy teas (or in my case, bottomless fizz). But being someone who naturally resonates with savoury rather than sweet, I feel Afternoon Teas are a waste for me. In fact, I always tell my friends that they should always invite me to Afternoon Teas as I let them eat all the cake!

Which is why discovering the Cheese Afternoon Tea at the Georgian House London was a dream, as I finally found an Afternoon Tea concept that ticked all my boxes.

Georgian House is a boutique 5 star hotel in Pimlico. It has 65 individually styled luxurious rooms designed by interior stylistLaura Fulmine.

There is even a Harry Potter-themed room with a Magic Potion Masterclass thrown in for young guests of the hotel.

The Afternoon Tea is held in their in-house restaurant called Pimlico Pantry. Currently operating a breakfast and a short food menu for hotel guests only, they are also open to non-guests for drinks and their famous Cheese Afternoon Tea. They will be launching a brunch menu soon.

We had a chance to sample the Afternoon Tea courtesy of Kris (@untappedlondon), who won a competition on Instagram and took me as his plus one!

The concept of the Cheese Afternoon Tea, as you may have gathered by now, revolves around cheese. Each course is designed to showcase different cheeses as the key ingredients and they work with a number of British dairies and suppliers on this.

But wait, there’s more! The Afternoon Tea comes with a choice of upgrading to either a Wine Flight (bespoke wine pairing) or Bottomless Prosecco. It is priced at £45 per guest on weekends & £40 for week days. Bottomless Prosecco is an additional £20 and £15 for the accompanying wine flight.

A glass of Champagne to begin with put us in the mood for a classy afternoon ahead.

Starting with the bottom tier, the Savoury Section included:

Burrata, Tomato and Pesto Bruschetta

Sheep Cheese, Nduja & Roasted Pepper Open Sandwich

Smoked Cheddar Welsh Rarebit with Apple Chutney

Potted Stilton with Raisins, Peppercorns and Capers on a Fig and Apricot Bread

The wine pairing with this course was a Kew Red English Wine from The Bolney Wine Estate. It had quite the mouthfeel; a deep red with a very distinct bouquet, quite oaky and a slight aroma similar to port wine.

The Open Sandwich had some lovely flavours and a kick to it. The Potted Stilton was a pleasing mouthful; none of that strong blue cheese taste that goes straight up your nose and wipes out any sensations. The Welsh Rarebit was liking eating a tiny but divine morsel of gooey cheese toastie. But my fondness was for the bruschetta. There was just a tiny smidgen of pesto to impart flavour rather than overpower the cool, creamy burrata. The bread could have been sliced a bit thinner though. Nevertheless, whoever has designed the menu had clearly thought about the various flavours and texture combinations with cheese so hats off to the chef!

Moving onto the middle tier… this was something I was most looking forward to: the Savoury Scones.

Cheddar and Thyme Scone

Blue Cheese Scone with Cheese, Chutney and Apple Slices

I am a fan of scones in general, but warm and buttery savoury scones are my weakness. We matched this with a Trenchmore Silly Moo Cider. Cider in an Afternoon Tea scenario is quite unusual, but using apple cider and pairing it with cheese worked very well to mellow down the acidity of the cider and give it a smoother finish. It was genuinely clever. Both scones, groaning with abundant cheese, were scrumptious and went down well with the drinks.

Finally the Top Tier or Sweet course had the following options:

Goat’s Cheese Mousse, Beetroot Jam, Basil Tart

Blu 61’ Drunk Cheese with Cranberries on Scottish Oatcake

Raspberries Mascarpone Cheese Cone

Black Forest Cheesecake Shot with Pretzel Crumble

The sweet course was paired with a Blanc de Blancs English Sparkling Wine by Greyfriars. It was nicely dry, not too sweet or overly fizzy so it went swimmingly with the sugary stuff.

From the desserts section, the tart was really well done. There was a distinct sharpness coming from the goat’s cheese and beetroot jam wrapped inside that perfect pastry. The cheesecake shot was my favourite. Layers of savoury, moussy cheese is offset by the sharp blueberry and minute textures from the crumble.

We were recommended to eat the drunk cheese last and we now know why, as it was super strong. In terms of looks, the marbling on the surface of the cheese was simply ethereal.

To cap off a boozy afternoon, we tried one of the special cocktails called Ocean Bloom, made from Elderflower Vodka, Lemonade, Lemon and Blue Curacao. To say it looked stunning would be an understatement.

Overall, we were impressed by the imaginative and technically accomplished cheesy creations. If you are a cheese Lover, wine lover and Afternoon Tea lover then this Cheese Afternoon Tea is perfect for you. They even have a vegan cheese version.

Three cheesy delicious courses later with wines to match, I feel when it comes to Afternoon Tea, I have finally found the One!